Le Meridien Resort on Bora Bora Pt2 2020-02-07

Time to continue our trip to the Le Meridien Bora Bora! We left off with us waiting for a boat at the docks on Bora Bora.

I wasn't sure if they operate on "island time" here or if things would be prompt. Turns out, right at noon a boat shows up with a small blue flag on the back of it. I can just make it out. Le Meridien!

Us and four other couples boarded the boat to the resort. Yes we could have sat underneath the cover, but why not enjoy this wonderful ocean air.

Here's the route we're taking to get to the Le Meridien. Just about a 30 minute boat ride. Cost per person for this one-way trip was ~$15. Not too bad at all.

Goodbye docks!

Hey! I recognize those over-water bungalows! When we were here back in 2011, we stayed in the bungalow 2nd from the right, the Marlon Brando Bungalow 2. And to tell you the truth, it was not a very relaxing vacation back then. The bungalow right next to us was under construction the entire time, with hammering and sanding the entire day. And on top of that, there's only one road going around the island, so the constant traffic noise was irritating to say the least. That's why we wanted to come back to Bora Bora and do it properly, on a motu away from the main island.

The boat ride to the resort was great. The water wasn't too choppy and Theresa didn't get sick. Hooray!

Thirty minute after leaving, we pulled up to the Le Meridien! We were greeted with ukulele music, leis, and an attendant for every couple.

While the others were led to the front desk, we were instead led to the Miki Miki bar (there's a Disney joke in there somewhere I bet). Perhaps it's Theresa's Platinum Elite status with Marriott.

Our guide took us to this table with a beautiful view of the main island.

And each of us had a tasty beverage waiting for us.

It's a great start to a beautiful and relaxing vacation.

We were walked around the resort for a quick tour. We walked by the check-in desk. Here's where everyone else waited while they checked in.

The two of us were led to a golf cart and everyone took a ride to our over-the-water bungalow.

Here's our spot for the next 7 days. Room 206. Our attendant told us it's her favorite bungalow here. I wasn't so sure.

I've circled it in green below. It's the third bungalow on the left as you go out of the northern set of bungalows. Before we arrived, Theresa put in two requests for the room. A view of the mountain and a place furthest from the resort. Our thinking being that we were wanting to get away from the noise we encountered on our last visit here. We got one of those things, a great view of the mountain.

And as is turns out, after a day, my thoughts on the room changed. This is an awesome room. The layout of the rooms are such that only a few have a good straight-on view of the mountain. Many of our neighbors rooms are turned such that they only have a sideways glance at the mountain, while others have no view at all. There's another reason I love this room too. You can see in the photo above that there's a boat speeding by the outer bungalows. Talking to some of the other guests who did stay in those outer rooms, the boat traffic was constant and a bit annoying.
So, this was indeed a great room. Should we go back to this hotel, I'd definitely request this room again.

And speaking of the room, let's go inside! The view from the entrance. That's a glass floor for looking down at the fish in the water. There's not a lot of corral here, which isn't great for seeing fishes, but there does look like an attempt to put rocks beneath the glass floors of the rooms where fish might congregate.

A look at the bed. A large king sized bed that was very soft.

A look out the window from the desk.

Ah, there's a couch and a tv.

After this photo, the TV was turned off and it stayed off for the entire rest of the trip.

An oversized bathtub.

The window slats open up as well, for a view of the ocean outside.

Double sinks in the bathroom.

An open shower that had plenty of hot water.

And for completeness, the toilet.

Our view from the deck.

Happy to be here and now we're ready to unpack.

Here's just about everything we picked up and a couple things we brought from home. Snacks and dinners for our next 7 nights here.

As a late lunch and early dinner, Theresa and I enjoyed fresh bread with butter, strawberry jam, Nutella, and peanut butter. To drink, we had delicious pineapple juice.

As an anniversary gift, the hotel had offered to bring celebratory champagne to the room. We requested an alternative and received 2 glasses of pineapple juice and coconut macaroons.

After a short night on Tahiti, and a busy morning, Theresa was worn out.

The two of us hung out on the porch until it was too late to be outdoors. We enjoyed a nice sunset around 7pm and then closed up the room, pulled all the shades, and called it a night. By 9:30pm both of us were asleep.